WATCH: Pixar's teaser for 'Cars 3' steers the franchise in a very new direction

Long considered the black sheep of Pixar’s cinematic canon, Cars was the animation studio’s biggest critical dud when it was released a decade ago. At least until Cars 2 came along and showed that when it comes to steering clear of mistakes of the past, sometimes Pixar is asleep at the wheel.

But with its massive merchandising tie-in promotions helping to turn the panned movies into one of the most lucrative franchises in film history, Cars 3 is set to arrive in cinemas next June. And the first teaser trailer, just released has left – the admittedly small number of – fans of the original wondering just what direction the original is moving in.

The short video shows Lightning McQueen, voiced again by Owen Wilson, struggling to compete against the new cars racing in the Piston Cup, going through a brutal and realistic – for a series about anthropomorphic automobiles – crash. “From this moment, everything will change,” the trailer’s tagline warns viewers ominously, marking a drastic turn from the slapstick of one-liner zinging cars, trucks, planes and trains to something altogether more gritty.